


Love Never Dies

by jojosbrazzeradventure



Category: Dangan Ronpa 3: The End of 希望ヶ峰学園 | The End of Kibougamine Gakuen | End of Hope's Peak High School
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Awkwardness, Canon Compliant, Cute, Cute Ending, Dork Naegi Makoto, Embarrassment, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Hopeful Ending, Hugs, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Light Angst, Love, Love Confessions, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Post-Canon, Post-Game(s), Reunions, Romance, Romantic Fluff, this probably sucks lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-06
Updated: 2018-09-06
Packaged: 2019-07-07 19:41:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15914970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jojosbrazzeradventure/pseuds/jojosbrazzeradventure
Summary: Makoto watches the Remnants of Despair sail away with a conflicted feeling in his heart. He knows he should be more hopeful, but he can't shake the feeling that something is missing. Until Kyoko Kirigiri comes back into his life, and makes him feel whole again.





	Love Never Dies

**Author's Note:**

> hey ny'all I know I'm late but I finally finished DR3 and fell into Naegiri hell so have this  
> it's like a personal interpretation of what happened at the end of the Hope Arc before the credits uwu  
> enjoy the fluff thotties!

 Makoto’s eyes drifted back and forth over the seas of Jabberwock Island. He had finally completed his mission. The Remnants of Despair were alive, and on their way to make new history for themselves. He was happy for them, of course, but something seemed to be missing. A part of him felt empty. His thoughts kept wandering back to the time he spent locked up in the Future Foundation building, forced to partake in yet another killing game. His hands tensed around the guardrails. He grit his teeth, trying to push back those painful memories. Unfortunately one specific memory seemed unable to leave Makoto’s head. The sight of Kyoko’s body. Dead, lifeless on the ground.

“Gh-!” 

He shook his head violently, trying to rid himself of that horrible sight. He turned his attention back towards the large ship with a loud sigh. Footsteps began echoing up the stairs, but Makoto paid no attention to them. The sound of heels clicking on pavement continued to grow louder until the sound was right behind him.  

“Good morning.” 

A woman’s voice followed. A soft, calm, familiar voice. A voice that instantly brought Makoto to the verge of tears. He turned his head slowly, eyes widening at the sight before him. 

“Ky...Kyoko?” 

Kyoko Kirigiri, presumed to be dead, was standing right there in front of him. Her long, flowing hair was tied back in the same ponytail with the same little bow as it was the last day Makoto saw her. Her smile was just as warm as he remembered. 

“Hello, Makoto. It’s nice to see you again.” 

Instantly, Makoto’s heart shattered. Tears welled up in his eyes. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He very clearly saw Kyoko’s dead body a couple days ago, and yet, she was standing right there in front of him, perfectly alive and just as beautiful as ever. His arms twitched at his sides. Before he could stop himself, he ran over and threw his arms around Kyoko. 

“Oh, Kyoko,” he spluttered, tears streaming down his face. He repeated her name a couple more times, just to cement the fact that she was really there. He pulled away from her, but kept his hands perched on her shoulders. 

Kyoko, mildly flustered from the sudden hug, blinked in surprise. She managed a smile as she looked at Makoto’s tear-stained face. “Yes, that’s my name. Why do you keep saying it?” 

Everything about Kyoko in this state made Makoto’s heart pound. Hearing her voice again was comforting. Her eyes had a newfound glow to them. Her grin, sparkling with hope, was thing that hit him the most. He hadn’t seen her in what felt like weeks, but she was still the same Kyoko. More tears began to trickle out of Makoto’s eyes. His lip trembled as he attempted to speak. “Because...because...” 

He gave up on trying to explain and wrapped his arms around her once again, somehow tighter than before. 

“Damn it, Kyoko, I missed you so much.” 

Kyoko’s hands twitched. She clearly wasn’t sure what to do, but her tone was as relaxed as ever. “My, you’re quite clingy today,” she teased. 

“Can you really blame me?” Makoto choked out between sobs, his voice slightly muffled by Kyoko’s jacket. “I watched you die. I really thought you were gone. I thought...” 

“Hm..?”

“I thought I lost you forever,” he finished, squeezing her even closer to him. As Makoto’s arms tightened around her, Kyoko only now seemed to realize how much she meant to him. For being the former Ultimate Detective, Kyoko wasn’t exactly the best at recognizing feelings toward herself. She sighed. 

“I missed you too, Makoto,” she admitted, gently placing her arms around him in return. “I will say that the possibility of never seeing you again wasn’t a risk I wanted to take. But I wanted you to live on, even if it meant leaving me behind. I should’ve known that you wouldn’t have let that happen.” She chuckled. 

The corners of Makoto’s mouth pulled into a small smile. “Of course I couldn’t just let you die,” he agreed with a sniffle. “I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I had.” 

She gently patted his back. “Yes, I know. I’ve saved your life many times before, so I guess it’s only fair that you save me once.” 

Makoto felt his smile grow. He squeezed her once more and slowly pulled away, his eyes still damp. “Wow, sorry for getting so emotional,” he said with a quick, nervous laugh. 

“You’re fine,” Kyoko replied. “It’s perfectly understandable. Now then, shall we go inside?” 

Makoto nodded. “Y-Yeah.” 

The two began to head for the door when Kyoko suddenly stopped.

”One more thing, Makoto,” she muttered. 

Makoto looked over at her expectantly. “Yeah?” 

A sparkle filled with mischievous intent flashed through Kyoko’s eyes for a split second. She took a step towards Makoto with a smirk and leaned over, just enough that her face was only a few centimeters away from Makoto’s. His cheeks flared red. He wasn’t used to people being directly in his face, especially someone as beautiful as Kyoko. 

“K-Kyoko, what are you—“

He was instantly cut off by his own surprise. Kyoko had pressed her lips ever-so-gently against his cheek. She pulled away just as quickly as she had pushed in, leaving Makoto’s face even redder than before. 

“Thank you.” 

The soft smile gracing her face made Makoto’s throat close up. His heart felt like it would jump out of his chest at any second. “F-For what?” he managed to ask. 

“For never giving up on hope. You’ve always looked for the positive side of things, and if a way existed, you’d find it. The Remnants of Despair, the people _you_ had saved, are the reason I’m still here. So, thank you, Makoto. You truly deserve the title of Ultimate Hope.” 

To make matters worse for Makoto, her face was still lingering unusually close to his. As if what she said wasn’t enough to make his body melt completely. It was nearly unbelievable how genuine she was being, but he couldn’t find a single trace of doubt in those gleaming lilac eyes of hers. It almost brought him back to tears. “Kyoko...can I tell you something?” 

She stepped back, just enough to look directly in his eyes. “Yes?” 

A sudden surge of bravery charged its way through Makoto’s system. He reached out and put his hands on either side of Kyoko’s face. Without even thinking of the possible consequences, he brought her face to his and matched their lips together like a jigsaw piece. Kyoko staggered and stumbled a bit in her stance. Even she couldn’t have predicted Makoto being this forward. Too soon for Kyoko’s liking, he pulled away slowly. His warmth chose to stay behind on her lips and slowly spread all over her body. She was completely and utterly speechless, a rare state for Kyoko. The gentle feeling of his hands was etched into her cheeks. For what might have been the first time in her life, Kyoko sensed herself blushing. 

Makoto sighed. “I don’t think I ever told you why I kept going.”

Kyoko furrowed her brows. Makoto looked at her with a strange expression. 

“There was a reason I could never give up,” he continued. “Something was preventing me from stopping. Or, more accurately, somebody. Somebody...I care a lot about.” 

The way Makoto looked at her made Kyoko think. It seemed like he expected her to know who he meant. 

“Every time I thought of something bad happening to that person, it gave me motivation. I would’ve done anything to protect them. And honestly, I still would. Kyoko, do...do you know who I’m talking about?” 

Kyoko sighed. “I don’t mean to sound selfish here, but,” she started, “is it me?” 

Makoto nodded, his cheeks lightly dusted with pink. “You’re right, as usual.”

”You did kiss me just a few seconds ago. It wasn’t very difficult to figure out.” 

“Well, I’ve never been known for being discreet,” Makoto said with a small laugh. 

Kyoko lips curled into a hint of a smile. “I’m well aware of that,” she agreed. “I must say, Makoto, it’s very unlike you to be so forward.” 

He shrugged. “I don’t know what happened. Maybe I’m just excited.” 

“Quite peculiar,” Kyoko mused. She studied Makoto with a critical eye, even more so than usual, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. “It’s very strange, if you ask me.”

”Yeah, I get that,” Makoto agreed. “Love can make you do some strange things.” 

That suddenness of that sentence hit Kyoko like a smack to the face. “Love?” 

Makoto’s eyes widened with embarrassment. “Wait, you didn’t get that?” 

“I’m afraid I didn’t,” Kyoko admitted. Her heart was beating a million miles an hour as it crawled into her throat. New feelings shot their way all throughout Kyoko’s veins. Makoto forced his gaze to the ground, too awkward to maintain eye contact. 

“I-I thought you knew.” 

Kyoko let out a small grumble. “I did have my suspicions, but I could never be certain. You...really do love me, Makoto?” 

He nodded. 

“I want to hear it.” 

“What?” A visible chill ran down Makoto’s spine. 

“Say you love me,” Kyoko ebbed. “I need to hear it from your own lips.” 

Makoto grimaced to himself, his face turning a deep red. He sighed. “Okay.” 

“...?” 

He took a deep breath to steady his nerves and looked her directly in the eyes. The corners of his mouth pulled into a small smile. “I love you, Kyoko Kirigiri.” 

For a moment, Kyoko forgot how to breathe. She wasn’t expecting Makoto to actually go ahead and say it. And especially not that confidently. Perhaps he knew she wasn’t the most experienced in the field of romance. 

“W-Well,” she forced out, “I guess you do.” 

Makoto looked slightly offended. “Well, yeah! I wouldn’t lie about something like that,” he huffed. 

“And, since you thought I already knew, you weren’t as uncomfortable, I take it?” 

“Correct again.” 

Kyoko frowned. Something seemed a little off, but maybe that was just her imagination. Even though Kyoko had little to no experience with love, she could tell that Makoto’s feelings were genuine. She tried to force her skepticism to the side. Her “critical detective” way of thinking didn’t allow her to consider things like this. Making matters worse, she was completely and thoroughly embarrassed, which had never happened before. Makoto watched Kyoko’s eyes flitter around intensely with a confused raise of an eyebrow. 

“Uh, Kyoko...are you okay?” he asked. 

Kyoko realized with a start that she had left him hanging on the confession front. She forced herself to look him in the eyes, despite wanting to look anywhere else but at him. “I...Yes, I’m fine. It’s just hard to accept the truth sometimes,” she admitted, a little awkwardly. 

“Oh, uh, did I make you uncomfortable?” Makoto asked, suddenly looking concerned. Kyoko managed a small chuckle. 

“Waiting until you’ve already kissed me without my permission to ask if I’m uncomfortable? How very much like you, Makoto. You’ve always been so impulsive.” 

His ears reddened. “H-Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?” 

“It’s not exactly a bad trait,” Kyoko stated. “It’s one of the many things I love about you.” 

The red on his ears spread to his face. “Huh?” 

“It’s common courtesy when one says ‘I love you’ to say it back, am I right?” 

“Well, not if you don’t mean it.” 

“I guess I’ll keep going then.” 

Makoto seemed to slowly realize where this was going. 

Kyoko tried to soften her gaze and smile as warmly as she could. “I...I’ve never been good at discerning my own feelings. But I can say with one-hundred-percent certainty that I, too, feel only love for you.” 

And, with that, Makoto burst out laughing. It took a second for Kyoko to register what was happening. Was Kyoko wrong in assuming he was genuine? Was this just a stupid prank? Seeing the utterly horrified look on her face, Makoto forced himself to stifle another laugh. 

“S-Sorry, Kyoko,” he said sheepishly. “It’s just that you looked so serious. I didn’t mean to offend you or anything.” 

“Well, I am serious. I do love you, Makoto. And I’d like it if from now on, you don’t laugh in my face when I tell you so.” 

A bright smile crossed his face. His eyes sparkled as he looked at Kyoko. “I promise.” 

Kyoko felt a real, genuinely warm smile spread on her lips. Being in love was a foreign feeling to her. As her gaze met Makoto’s, she realized that she quite liked that feeling. She leaned over and kissed his forehead gently. 

“Now then,” Kyoko said, “shall we go this time?” 

Makoto nodded with a curt and triumphant laugh. He walked over to the doors back inside the Future Foundation building, Kyoko following in tow. She opened the door and stopped in front. 

“Ready?” she asked, reaching her hand out to Makoto. 

“As I’ll ever be,” he replied, intertwining his fingers with hers. 

The two clenched each other’s hands tightly, each of them more confident in themselves than ever. And, more than that, they were confident in each other. Bonds restored themselves as the pair held on to one another, fortified twice as much and figuratively stronger than any military base. They had found new hope. They found hope for a future only _they_ could decide. With one last look into each other’s eyes, the pair strolled confidently ahead, ready to take on the world together. 

**Author's Note:**

> i was really tired when i wrote this so it's probably awful but whatever lmao  
> leave a comment if you enjoyed!


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